Another Round
by IrishNun
Summary: Dean and Sam Winchester live in a small town in Texas. Life if good… life is normal… until the truth comes out and destiny catches up to them. Starts off as a Teen-chester.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **Another Round

**Summary: **Dean and Sam Winchester live in a small town in Texas. Life if good… life is normal… until the truth comes out and destiny catches up to them. (Starts off as a Teen-chester)

**AN:** I wrote this shortly after Season 6 Episode 17 but figure out an ending. Fic is 10 chapters long.

Dean aged 16 Sam aged 12

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

The young boy quickly walked down the empty halls of the school. He wanted to get to the next class before being seen. But first, he needed to get his books out of his locker. He rushed up to the last locker at the end of the row and nervously opened the padlock. It slipped out of his sweaty fingers and dropped on the floor loudly. He looked around and breathed a sigh of relief when no one heard was around. He pulled out one book and replaced it with another. He then slipped the padlock back on the door again.

The school bell shrilled through the emptiness and children began to fill the halls. He swerved around them down the hall to room at the other end of the corridor, careful not to run. He got caught by the head master only last week for running and he wasn't about to get another black mark to his name. The classroom door opened and emptied of its previous occupants. The boy nervously slipped into the empty room. He took his seat, second row from the back beside the window and waited for his class to enter.

The history lesson ended as boring as it began and the boy spent the time planning his escape route for the way home. Most children went out the front to be collected by the bus or car. The rest went out the back to walk home through the football field. But he had found that if he went out the side door, the one the janitor used, he could sneak around the back of the football field and escape unseen by the other children. It had worked for him before and he had planned to do it again that day.

He had cleared the football field and was just about to jump the security fence, when someone took hold of the collar his jacket and pulled him down to the ground. He fell on the hard earth with a thud. He groaned and opened his eyes to see 'Big Steve' smiling down on him. His fat face was held up by his thick neck. His t-shirt, which would be baggy over any other boy, was tight around his muscular body. "Where do you think you're off to?" he swung his hair out of his eyes with a shake of his head. "We haven't seen each other the last few days. I thought you had pulled a disappearing act on me."

"And fool you? It never crossed my mind," the boy rolled himself to his feet and patted the dirt off his clothes. He looked to the beautiful girl who was standing behind Big Steve and he gave her a quick smile.

"Don't look at her," Steve slapped him across the face. "Don't you dare look at her!"

"What do you expect me to do?" the boy rubbed pain out of his cheek. "Go around with my eyes closed?"

Big Steve nodded as the idea roamed around in his head.

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><p>Sam Winchester banged his feet on the concrete floor and wiped his shoes over the rough mat. It was a sunny day but the route he took home involved passing through the school's running track and today it was particularly dusty. He took out the house key that was hanging around his neck and stepped through the front door. He hung his jacket and key on a coat hook in the hall. Throwing his bag under the stairs, he skipped into the kitchen.<p>

His big brother, Dean, was already home. He was sitting at the kitchen table holding a bag of frozen peas to his face. Sam looked up and groaned as he passed. "Football practice again?"

"It's a dangerous game," Dean smiled showing off his blue bruise.

Sam squirmed. He knew Dean was lying. He could always tell because Dean couldn't look him straight in the eye when he lied. "Don't you think mom and dad will find it weird if they go to a game and you're not playing?"

Dean shrugged. "So, I'll quit a week before the game starts. Tell them this face is too pretty to be damaged."

It all started about a month ago. Lucy Hammond just had another fight with her boyfriend, Steve Colder. In that brief time they had broken up, Dean found Lucy crying behind the bleachers. He held her close to him and in an effort to comfort her, he gave her a kiss. Unfortunately, when they got back together, Steve found out and had been on a mission to beat the kiss out of Dean.

"You know all you have to do is to admit you didn't enjoy kissing her and he'll stop hitting you." Sam pulled out two tall glasses, a milk carton, loaf of bread, a blunt knife, a jar of raspberry jelly and some peanut butter.

"But she's the hottest girl in school. Of course I enjoyed it. I can't lie about that." Dean declared obviously not getting the point.

"Then you'll have to stand up to him," Sam poured them both a glass of milk. "You still have another year at school with him. I've seen bullies like him before. He won't stop until you stop him first," he spoke from experience. School wasn't Sam's favourite pastime. In fact, he hated it. If it weren't for one best friend and one favourite English teacher, he would have tried to leave it a long time ago.

"Are you mad?" Dean wiped the milk-tache from his upper lip. "Dad would freak. He'd give me a life sentence for intentionally killing a fly! You know how Gandhi like he is about violence." They weren't even allowed to watch violence on the television and this included the news. Dean had to sometimes sneak into town to get his fix of excitement from the local video arcade.

Sam bit into his peanut butter and jelly sandwich. "You know Gandhi also said it's better to be violent if there is violence in our hearts."

Dean removed his ice bag and looked at his brother in wonder. "How did you get so smart?" his eyes narrowed.

His little brother shrugged. "I guess one person in the family has to be clever. We can't all be like you." Dean quickly wrapped his arm around his brother's neck and began roughly rustling his hair. Sam jumped of his stool and, unsuccessfully, tried to squirm out of the tight grip.

The dark figure watched them wrestle playfully from the shadows of the staircase. It pained him that he was about to destroy their happiness. He was hoping he wouldn't have to introduce himself for at least another ten years. But circumstances had changed and events were unfolding a lot faster than he had foreseen.

Suddenly, the front door unlocked and Mary Winchester lit up the hall.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:** Thanks for the reviews. Hope this chapter keeps your attention.

Dean aged 16 Sam aged 12

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><p><strong>Part 2<strong>

Sam held his open mouth over the column of cold water that was spraying up to him. He was careful to avoid the mound of chewing gun that was already forming around the water fountain. The pupils thought it hilarious to cover the fountain in gum when they arrived to school in the morning so that by the end of the day, the basin and tap were nearly covered. By the time the janitor came along, the gum usually made its way down the pipe. The school tried introducing a fining system but it was soon uncovered that even teachers were leaving their mark. Sam raised his head and wiped his sleeve across his face cleaning away any spills. He looked up at his brother who was standing close by. He was looking from pupil to pupil and seemed to be studying their movements. They had arrived to school early, for once, and pupils were still loudly greeting each other.

"Hey Sammy," one boy shoved Sam in the back, pushing him into the gum covered tap. "You ready for Missus Eagleton?" his best friend for four years spoke of their Math teacher. "There's a rumor going around that she's wearing a low cut top this morning. There's already a fight over who's getting to sit in the front row." The small boy's smile disappeared when he saw Sam's older brother stare down at him. Dean wasn't a bully, in the true sense of the word, but everyone knew that if you messed with Sam you would get the brunt of his brother's fist in your face. "I'll meet you there," Sam nodded at him.

Dean narrowed his eyes and watched the boy nervously walk away. "Does he always hit you in the back like that?" he asked protectively.

"Dean!" Sam whined. "He's my best friend."

"That doesn't mean anything," Dean still kept his eyes on the boy until he disappeared around the corner. "Best friends make excellent enemies."

"And you know this from experience?" Sam walked over to his locker and undid the lock. For as long as he could remember, Dean wasn't big into friendships. The majority of them were girls and the very few that were of his own age and gender didn't last long. Sadly, it seemed, Sam was Dean's best friend.

Dean leaned his back on the lockers beside him and looked both ways down the halls. Children were beginning to disappear into classrooms and noises were starting to die down. "If you want," Sam tried not to smile, "I can walk you to your class." He could see Dean was clearly keeping an eye out for 'Big Steve'. His eye was still black from yesterday's beating but as least the swelling had gone down.

"Dude," Dean laughed back, "the day you grow a foot taller than me, then you can protect me but until such time, I'll be walking you to your class." He took himself away from the lockers and waited for Sam to collect all the relevant books. Then they both walked side by side down the wide corridor and up the stairs. At the top, they turned right and walked side by side down another corridor. The odd student greeted them but in the majority, no one took any notice of the big brother walking the younger brother to class. This was a ritual they did every day. Ever since Sam's first day at school, Dean always walked him to his first class. It wasn't as if he needed to do it and the days that Dean was out sick, Sam wasn't scared to walk there alone. But it was just their routine. Their classes were always on different floors so apart from the mornings and at home, they never got to see each other. Dean never thought he was over protective and Sam never complained.

Just before they reached Missus Eagleton's room, they both noticed the same girl. Her blonde hair bounced over her developing breasts. Dean's mouth dropped along with every other boy's that noticed her beauty. "My God, Sammy, I think I've just found an angel," he whispered.

Sam sighed and elbowed him in the arm. "That's what you said about Lucy Hammond and look how well that turned out."

"Yeah, but this is different," he blushed when the girl looked at him and gave him a quick smile. "This girl is new." Sam was about to ask him how he could possible know that but remembered that Dean knew all the girls in school. He had hung out with some and kissed the rest. He knew when girls were available and he especially knew when girls were new.

"To hell with tech drawing, I think I've found a new project," he smiled as the bell rang out to signal the start of school.

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><p>Sam was half way across the football field when he heard the heavy steps pounding the ground behind him. He immediately recognized them and turned around fearfully. Dean stopped in front of him with a smile on his face. "Dude," Sam slapped his arm. "I thought you were being chased."<p>

Dean bent over and held onto his knees to catch his breath. Sport was not his strong point. "Tell mom I have football practice and I'll be home before dark."

"No way," Sam shook his head. "Can't you just tell her the truth? You know I'm no good at lying to her. She always figures me out," the young boy dropped his head.

"Oh yeah," Dean nodded and remembered a couple of times where he had asked Sam to lie for him but he always ended up getting grounded instead. "Then tell her I'm going out for dinner with a few of the guys." Sam asked him where he'll really be. "At the cinema with the new girl," he gave a cheeky grin.

"Seriously?" Sam let his head fall to the side. "You don't even know her."

"Sure I do," Dean smirked. "She's a transfer from Florida. Her name is Sue and loves my accent. What more do I need to know?" he laughed while walking back to the school where she was waiting for him. "I'll give you all the details when I get back," he said waving his hand in the air.

"Can't wait," Sam mumbled and turned back to face his lonely walk home.

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><p>The blonde girl forcefully shoved him up against the wall. They were in a dark alley behind the cinema. "You smell good," she smiled rubbing her nose along his neck.<p>

"Is it my cologne? I sometimes put on too much when I get nervous," he smirked, although he couldn't remember putting any on that day. They had gone to see a French movie but hadn't paid attention to the subtitles. There were in the back row after all.

"No, that's not it," she let her tongue roll over his neck until she felt him shiver with excitement. Then she wrapped her mouth around the side of his neck and pinched him slightly with her teeth.

Dean pulled his head back and pushed her away. "What the hell was that?" he rubbed his hand over the pain. He knew what a hickey felt like. He had had them before but that bite was different. It was painful. He rubbed the wound again expecting to see blood on his fingers but she hadn't broken the skin.

"I know what it is," the girl smiled with the realisation. "It's innocence." She stepped towards him slowly, twisting her hips seductively with each footstep. He could hear his heart beating through his chest. Something was wrong. He could feel it. Something in his gut told him to run. But what would he run from? A girl? His head stepped in and told him he just wasn't used to a girl being so forward. "And you know what the best thing about innocence is?" her eyes lit up and grew wide. "The blood is tastier."

Dean cocked his head. _Blood… tastier… what the hell does that mean? _he thought but before he had time to say it out loud, her appearance changed. Her incisors sharpened and her eyes darkened. She lunged forward knocking him to the ground. He tried pushing her away but she was too strong and slowly she lowered herself closer and closer towards him until he could smell her breath. He squirmed under her strength but in the end he had to turn his head away from her, exposing his neck.

Suddenly, she was picked up in the air and thrown to the other side of the alley. A shadow-form darted passed him and he felt a slight breeze brush his hair. She got up quickly and smoothed down her dress as though she wasn't hurt. She growled like an angry dog and was about to argue but the shadow passed over her again and Dean heard what sounded like a blade passing through the wind at great speed. The blonde girl looked over at Dean and gurgled. Then her head fell to the side and dropped to the floor. Dean raised himself up on his elbows. His breathing quickened and his eyes widened. He blinked hard. This had to be a dream. He wanted to run. He wanted to scream for help but fear had taken hold of him and his body could hardly move.

"You… you killed her," was all his mouth could say. The shadow had stopped moving and although Dean could sense him nearby, he couldn't bring himself to look up. "Why'd you kill her?"

"She was about to kill you," the shadow replied in a deep soulful voice.

"Are you… going to kill me too?" he stammered. _This was the moment to run_, he thought. He couldn't understand how he was able to ask questions so calmly, even if he did feel like his heart was about to crawl out of his mouth. But there he was, lying on a cold, wet, cemented ground talking to a stranger who had just taken the head off a girl he fancied. _Yeah, this is normal!_

"No," the shadow shook his head and gave a gentle laugh, "I would never hurt you."

"So then why… why'd she change like that?" Dean shook his head. There were so many thoughts running through his mind and not one of them was making any sense. He wondered if her teeth were always that sharp. Had her eyes always been that black? He couldn't remember. She was just so beautiful. He couldn't remember paying that much attention to the details.

"She was a vampire," the stranger blurted out and watched the boy deal with the information. The boy wasn't as strong as he had envisioned. This boy was going to change the world, yet he looked weak and terrified.

Dean looked from the stranger to the girl again. His jaw dropped and his eyes narrowed. "Say what now?" his head tilted.

"She didn't tell you?" the stranger dropped his head and gave a heavy sigh, immediately realizing the reason for the boy's strength or lack thereof. "That is… unfortunate." He stepped out of the shadows and Dean flinched a little when the man's face became clearer under the street lights. "Don't be afraid," the man held out his hand in friendship. "My name is Castiel," he introduced himself. "I'm here to protect you." He then knelt down on one knee in front of the young boy and waited a few seconds before speaking again. "You must speak to your mother," he instructed him. "You must ask her for the truth about demons and hunters. She will answer all your questions."

"Why can't you answer them?" Dean asked but as he blinked the stranger disappeared with a flutter.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: **Was going to wait til the start of the week to post this and then I thought... why wait? Do enjoy!

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><p><strong>Part 3<strong>

Mary cleared her throat just as she heard the footsteps of her eldest son scuff along the kitchen floor. Robert Singer quickly heard them too and quickly stepped away from her, over to the fridge.

"Hey boy," he gave Dean a quick smile and nod.

"Hey Uncle Bobby," Dean nodded. They weren't exactly related but Bobby had been around their house so long, it felt like he was part of the family. Dean nervously hovered at the doorway and watched his mother sprinkle some grated cheese over their dinner.

"Is that… blood on you?" the bearded man pointed to Dean's forehead.

Dean raised his eyes upwards like it could be seen and realized whose it was. He nervously rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand. "Ketchup," he quickly explained that there was a food fight in the canteen at lunch. He gave a quick smile. As soon as he came in the house, he headed straight for the bathroom to wash his hands. He scrubbed them so hard he thought he might actually rub his skin away. There were so many feelings rushing through him, he didn't know whether he was going to throw up or burst out crying. Although, he knew that whichever came first, he wouldn't be able to stop.

"I hope you didn't start it," Mary put the lasagna in the hot oven.

"No ma'am," he replied politely trying to keep his voice as calm as possible.

"Just got caught in the crossfire while checking out some girl, I suppose," Bobby winked.

"You have no idea," Dean mumbled and pulled out a chair to sit in. He squeezed his hands between his legs. They wouldn't stop shaking. His whole body wouldn't stop shaking.

He noticed Mary and Bobby glance at each other. Their private conversation would have to wait for another time. John worked in construction so whenever he had to travel long journeys for work, Bobby would come over and help out with household duties. Dean and Sam considered him a second father and loved playing catch or talking about cars with him. John, on the other hand, was not his number one fan. Dean didn't understand why but figured it may have something to do with the gun Bobby always carried around with him. Bobby was a lieutenant with the police force in the next town. He usually dropped by when he worked the night shifts which mean he was usually still in uniform and had his gun clipped to his belt.

"Well," Bobby shrugged. "I'd better get back to the auld ball and chain."

Mary asked him to pass her love on to Ellen. "Tell her the next night out is on me."

"Will do," he picked his cap off the counter and ruffled Dean's hair as he left the house pulling the front door after him.

Dean watched his mother clear up the messy counter where she had prepared the dinner. "Mom?" he nervously cleared his throat. He had no idea how he was going to go about this conversation. "If I ask you something… would you promise to tell me the truth?"

Her silence prompted him to continue.

"Today, I met up with this cute girl at school…"

"Oh," she scrunched up her nose and poured herself a cool glass of water. "You don't want the birds and the bees' talk again, do you?"

Dean shook his head. "No, God no, I'm still trying to forget the last time." He was eleven years old when John sat him down to inform him of the differences between men and women. The talk was so awkwardly embarrassing, he was thankful he got to Sam first before he had to go through the same experience. "That's not what I want to talk about. This girl… I met her after school… and she… tried to attack me." He swallowed hard. His throat was dry and he yearned to drink some of her water.

Mary pulled out the chair across from him and sat down. Disregarding the fact that he had lied to her about meeting friends for dinner, she listened intensely to his story. "Did you hurt…?"

He shook his head. "No, I didn't touch her," he sighed. "Another guy did." He wanted to look up at her but instead he kept his eyes firmly on the stained table. "The thing is… this girl changed before she… she tried to bit me… and this guy came up and… and… he cut her head off," his voice turned to a whisper. It still seemed so unbelievable. When the stranger left him in the alley, he stood over the dead girl for what seemed like hours. He was amazed there wasn't that much blood. He even slightly kicked her head with his foot. He didn't know why. Maybe it was to check if it was real.

"Who, Dean… who was this guy?" she pushed her glass to the edge of the table and grabbed his hand in hers. She looked intensely at him not wanting to miss a second. His hand was freezing like it had just been dipped in ice cold water. She noticed he was trembling. He was in shock and she didn't know why.

"He said she was a vampire, mom," he continued completely missing her question. "Why would she be something that only exists in the imagination of film directors and computer game nerds? He said I had to ask you about demons and hunters," he kept going. He didn't want to be interrupted in case he wouldn't be able to get out all that he was thinking. "He said that you'd answer all my questions and to tell you the truth, mom, I have a hell of a lot of questions."

"Okay sweetheart, its okay," she gave him a nod and a soft smile when he had finished. "Just answer me one question and then I'll try to answer all of yours." He reluctantly nodded. "Did this guy tell you his name?"

Dean sighed and lifted his head. "He said his name was Castiel."

"Castiel," she repeated and swore. "I thought I had at least ten more years," she mumbled.

"Who is he, mom? And why the hell is he talking about vampires and demons?"

Mary held onto her son's hand. She knew this day would come eventually but she thought she could tell Dean these things on her own terms. For some reason, Castiel had arrived earlier than planned but now wasn't the time to figure out why. She could see fear in her son's eyes and cracked voice. She decided that now was the time to tell her son the truth.

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><p>Sam walked around his bedroom. He could hear Bobby and his mother speak in low tones in the kitchen below him. He could have tried listening but he was too busy working on his home work. This week's assignment was for art class. He had to sketch something of great importance and he was stuck. He tried drawing the pendent that he had given his father one Christmas but figured that was more important to John than to him. He strolled around his room moving his eyes up and down the walls searching for something, anything that he couldn't live without but he couldn't find anything of significant importance. He heard the house gate swing open and he pulled back the curtains to look outside. Dean was home earlier than expected and he wondered why. He noted his brother's face. He looked pale and nervous.<p>

Sam huffed a laugh. "Poor guy is losing his touch."

He watched Dean remove his shirt, spit into his hands and wipe them clean. He then threw the shirt in the trash can. "That's odd," Sam mumbled. "I gave him that for Christmas. It's his favouriteshirt."

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><p>"What you saw was real," Mary Winchester began to tell her son the truth about the supernatural world. "Vampires, demons… where do you think directors get their stories from? They don't have to use their imagination. They can use real life," she shrugged. She was going off the point and she quickly turned it around. "Hunters… track down and kill these demons. I'm a hunter… well, was a hunter… am," she looked to the top corner of the kitchen as she tried to figure it out in her head. "It's kind of confusing."<p>

"You're confused!" Dean whispered. He pulled his hand away. She was losing him. "What about this Castiel guy? How does he know about them? How does he know about you?"

She sighed. "I first met him about ten years ago. He said… that the path God had set for you was… going off course and that I needed to teach you how to become a hunter so you could follow the right road and fulfill your destiny."

"My destiny!" he huffed. "What the hell is my destiny?"

She shrugged and looked away. "I don't know. He wouldn't tell me."

"So, is he a hunter too?" he asked. This was all so incredibly surreal. Everything in the fantasy world, everything that he had made fun of nerds for was actually real and his mother was involved in it. He was involved in it. This stranger was involved in it. He didn't feel like crying anymore, he just wanted to throw up. That lasagna didn't look so appetizing anymore.

She shook her head and looked up at him. _The truth_, she told herself. She had to tell him the truth. "No," she gulped hard. "He's… an angel… an angel of God."

"No way," Dean shook his head telling her Castiel just looked like an ordinary man. Angels are supposed to have wings, aren't they? His memories flashed back to a book he used to read to Sam when he was younger where an angel appeared to a group of children. The angel wore a long white dress and had beautiful large white wings. The only long thing this man wore was a trench coat. Mary nodded and assured him he was indeed an angel. She told him angels had to occupy humans to be seen and heard by us.

They both heard a small sniff and a shuffle. They turned to the noise and watched Sam appear from his hiding place. He brought his head up and showed them bubbles of tears that were flowing from his eyes. "Is God going to take Dean away from us?" he blubbered.

"My poor baby," Mary reached her hand out and grabbed Sam by the waist pulling him closer to her. She wiped away as many tears as she could and found a dry spot to kiss his cheek. Telling Dean was one thing but Sam was too young to hear the truth. "As long as I'm around, God isn't going to take either of you away from me," she tried to reassure him. She looked back to Dean. The realisation of what was happening had suddenly kicked in and seeing Sam's reaction made him scared too. His eyes were beginning to water and his bottom lip began to tremble. She reached out to hold his hand but instead, he stood up and wrapped his arms around her neck. And there, as the oven timer ticked down, two frightened boys held on tightly to their mother.


	4. Chapter 4

**Part 4**

"How long has this been going on?" John Winchester asked his betraying wife when she had informed him what had happened that evening. He couldn't believe he was going through this again. He thought it was all behind him. When they got pregnant, she promised him she would quit hunting. It was her idea to do so. He didn't have to force her to do anything. She always said she didn't want to bring her children in the same world she was brought up in. They were now sitting across from each other at the kitchen table.

"About six months now," she felt like she was being interrogated and she didn't like it but she was grateful the yelling had stopped. "I wanted to tell you everything but after every hunt I convinced myself it would be my last."

John rubbed his face down with his hand and groaned. "Are there any weapons in the house?"

She shook her head hard. "No, no way. I would never do that." Any weapons she did have were in a secret compartment under the floor boards of the shed at the end of the garden. She made sure her boys couldn't access it by always covering it with the lawn mower.

They were silent again. She could tell he was still angry. When he was mad he would yell but when he was really angry, he would either leave the room or be really quiet.

"The demon attacks around town are becoming more frequent," she told him what she was thinking. She knew it was safer than going behind his back again. She hated that she lied to him for so long. "I think they know the angels have plans for Dean and are looking to get their hands on him first," she paused. "I think it's safer if we do what Castiel says and turn him into a hunter." She snuck a look from her husband. "And you know if we teach Dean, Sam will want to learn too."

John cupped his hands in front of his mouth and blew into them hard. "But he's so young. No… not Sammy. I won't allow it. He's just so… so…" he searched for a word that didn't make him sound like a horrible father.

"Weak?" Mary helped him knowing what he was thinking. She shook her head. "He has been bullied since his first day of school. Believe me when I say our son is not weak."

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><p>Dean lay on his bed and stared at a poster of a young Farrah Fawcett that was taped to his ceiling. He allowed his eyes to follow the outline of her bouncing blonde hair and large white smile. Sam sat at the end of the bed with his feet crossed under him. Their mother had sent them to their rooms when she saw their father pull into the driveway but Sam snuck into Dean's bed when the shouting became too much for him to bear. That was ten minutes ago. Now, it was just silence.<p>

"Why do you think it's so quiet?" Sam mumbled.

Dean shrugged. "Maybe dad killed mom and now he's looking for a place to bury her."

"Don't joke about it, Dean," Sam thumbed him on the leg. He rubbed his eyes. They were dry and sore. He was tired of crying. "Do you think dad will let me train with you?" he wondered hopefully.

Dean shrugged a shoulder. He was still in shock over meeting an angel. A real angel… only without the wings. He wondered why him. What made him so special? It had to be something important otherwise why would God send an angel down to protect him? He heard two chairs scratch against the kitchen tiles and he breathed a sigh of relief. Even if his parents weren't speaking at least they were still there. He thought about training alone under his mother's wing but he also wanted to protect his little brother. If the angel was right and he did have to learn how to be a hunter, it made sense that Sam should learn how to protect himself too. "I hope so. I don't want to go through this crap alone."

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><p>Jonathan Whitmore sat up in his bed. He swung his legs out under the blanket and onto the soft carpet. He dropped his head into his hands and groaned. This was the second night in a row that he couldn't sleep and he couldn't figure out why. Before, when he couldn't sleep it was because he was having nightmares about Lilly. His beautiful white Lilly. But he had come to terms with her death. He just wasn't tired enough to sleep.<p>

He headed down to the kitchen. His throat felt dry and he wanted something strong like a whiskey or strong coffee but he knew it wasn't a good idea. So instead he reached inside the fridge and poured himself a glass of milk. He looked at the door of the fridge. Each magnet represented a different country he and Lilly had visited when they were together. Each magnet held up a photograph of family and friends. In the middle of all the photographs, was a small calendar. He wasn't one for calendars. That was more Lilly's thing. But since her death, he had been using it a lot more.

Today was September 17th. Tomorrow, he had an appointment with his attorney to agree on his last will and testament. He had planned to give what little money he had to his brother in New England. He was going to give his house to his sister in Baltimore and his vintage toy car collection to his nephew. He already had it priced. In total, he could sell the collection for two thousand dollars.

October 10th was her anniversary. He didn't know why he wrote it in the calendar. It's not like he'd ever forget it. It had been three years since her death and he and his family liked to meet up for dinner and talk about the good times. The first meeting was so tough. He actually walked out on it because he couldn't bear to hear them laugh anymore. How could they laugh? She hadn't been dead long enough to laugh about her. But the second meeting was a lot easier. He had actually learned to laugh with them now. He didn't want to miss that day.

October 31st he had planned to take his nephew trick or treating. His sister always bought him his costumes but this year Colm wanted a home-made costume. He saw an old picture of Lilly dressed as a rubix cube and he thought it was the funniest thing. So Jonathan told him he would be honoured to make him a smaller version of it. He couldn't miss seeing his face and taking him out in the costume.

November 20th was thanksgiving with the family. He usually alternated spending time between his sister and his brother but this year he asked them to have dinner in his house. At first, they were sceptical that he could even make a dinner. "Turkey takes time to perfect," his sister kept telling him but he replied that he had learned from the best. His sister had taken care of him and his brother when they were younger. She was like the mother they never had. This year was going to be one to remember. He had planned to decorate the rooms with autumn paper coloured leaves, use orange serviettes and table cloth and put brown mats on the floor. It was going to be cheesy and fun. Every time he thought about it, he smiled. He couldn't miss that. He was looking forward to it.

December 16th had a smiley faced sticker over it. He smiled. That was D-day. It was the day he was excited about yet feared. It was the day he was going to test his faith and jump into the unknown. He was going to wait 'til after Christmas but every Christmas without his Lilly was torture and he wasn't about to go through another year without her again. He shook his head and looked down at his glass of milk. No, the 16th was a good day. It was the day he was going to say yes.

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>Confused? Don't be. Jonathan Witmore's story becomes more evident later on. Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

**Part 5**

Weeks passed and training was alternated between combat and research. Sam steadied the gun between his hands and held it in front of him. He pulled the trigger and the gun ricochet back so quickly it nearly slapping him in the face. He moved his head out of the way just in time. He had missed the can again. John annoyingly grabbed the gun away and began reloading. He walked over to the wall and set up the cans again. They were in a salvage yard Bobby owned where he did up old cars and sold body parts at the weekends.

"Why can't I just go back to the books?" he whined looking over his shoulder. Dean was in the back seat of a disused car that was sitting on blocks. You could see by his face he was having a hard time getting his head around some Latin Mary was trying to teach him. Dean always preferred to learn by doing. In school, he aced projects in technical drawing and carpentry. But give him a book to learn and he'd give it right back.

"Because," John positioned himself behind his son and covered his hands over Sam's, "you can't hunt monsters just be reading books. You have to learn how to kill them too." John told him to hold the gun steady in both hands, breathe out slowly and then pull the trigger.

Dean had knocked them all down after only his second try. "Too many video games," he joked handing the gun back. John wondered what video games and judging by Dean's face, it was a secret he wasn't supposed to know. Sam, on the other hand, was having a more difficult time. He was having trouble knocking just one down.

"How do you know so much about this stuff?" he asked his father closing one eye and shooting the gun in front of him. Two bullets shot through a car window and three got lodge into a door frame as he missed the cans again.

"Keep both eyes open," John ordered and took the gun from him to reload it with blanks. "Your mom tried teaching me some of it but I didn't have the same drive as she did."

"What do you mean?"

John sighed and glanced over his shoulder. "I suppose you're bound to find out sooner or later… you know the way we told you that your grandpa, your mom's dad, died in a car crash before Dean was born? Well… he didn't. It was actually a demon that killed him." He looked down at Sam expecting him to be emotional but he wasn't. In fact, he seemed surprisingly calm.

"So you're saying, mom's only a hunter because of grandpa," Sam thought out loud. John nodded and told him that grandpa was a hunter too. "So," he thought some more, "if someone I love dies… I'll be a better hunter?"

John took a knee in front of his son. He placed a hand on the side of his head, let it fall to his neck then lightly squeezed his shoulder. "You know son, you don't have to do this. You can go back to school on Monday, go onto college and do something you love. If you go down this road… it's tough. You have to be on the move all the time. It's hard to make friends, have girlfriends or even have a family. You can still say no, son."

Sam looked over to his brother and wondered. He noticed Dean's eyes were narrowed like he was already having trouble remembering everything. The thought of quitting before he began was tempting. There were so many dangerous demons out there and so many ways he could get hurt or die but he shook them out of his head. "No, I can't let him go through this alone. He's my brother. He'd do the same for me."

John removed his hand. "Okay then," he nodded realising his son wasn't as weak as he had always assumed. "You don't need to suffer pain or revenge to be a better hunter. You can use the love for your brother to be great. Every time you shoot a demon, you're protecting your brother. So, I want to you raise that gun in the air and pretend every one of those cans are demons."

He stood up and Sam nodded quickly. "Yes sir." He raised the gun in front of him and with both eyes open he let a deep breath out and knocked down all four cans.

* * *

><p>Dean and Sam strolled into the house after a tired day of training. Their brains were sore from learning reams of Latin. Their feet felt heavy, their shoulders were in pain and their body was bruised all over. They just wanted to sit in front of the television and forget everything they had just learned. But the hot smell drew them into the kitchen and they were surprised when they saw who was making them dinner.<p>

"Evening boys," Bobby turned round to face them. He was wearing his signature blue jeans, flannel shirt and baseball cap. "I hear you're having a crash course in demon hunting."

"How'd you know..." both boys replied but they stopped before finishing the sentence. They hated when they spoke at the same time. It made them sound like twins. Dean said it was due to the fact that they spent too much time together.

Bobby smiled. "Why'd you think your father hates me so much?"

"Because you carry a gun in the house," Dean answered with a shrug. Sam nodded. He figured that was the reason too.

Bobby tilted his head. "Well, yeah, there's that," he agreed. "But also because I used to be Mary's hunting partner."

"Was or is?" Bobby noticed Sam's change of tone. The small boy was suddenly angry at him and he knew why. He couldn't believe his mother would put her children's lives in danger and go back hunting demons. Someone had to make her do it and at this moment Sam was blaming Bobby.

His head dropped. "I didn't find out she was hunting again until recently. That's what you walked in on the other week," he nodded to Dean. "I was trying to tell her to stop or at least get her to tell John about it... but she said she could handle it. She said she was going to stop soon... and I believed her," he shrugged turning back to the large pot of stew. He told the boys to sit down. He then poured out three bowls and they ate in silence.

After dinner, they just watched as Bobby stood up and carried the bowls over to the sink, rinse them and place them into the dishwasher. Sam looked up at Dean and noticed his eyes were heavy. He was ready to fall asleep. Sam turned back to Bobby. "Dad told me how grandpa really died," he said. Dean woke up a little. "How did you get into hunting?"

Bobby looked back at them and leaned his hands on the counter behind him. He glanced from one brother to the other and sighed. "Did I ever tell you boys, I had a daughter?"

Both of them frantically shook their head.

"Yeah, everyone said that when she was young she looked the image of me."

"You mean, she was born with facial hair," Dean quipped.

Sam tried, unsuccessfully, not to smile.

"Don't be smart with me, boy," Bobby faced him asking did he want to hear the story or not. Sam pleaded with him to continue. All his anger for him had already dissipated.

He pulled out his chair again and sat down. "She was born round the same time as you," he turned to Dean and his head dropped. "One night... Ellen walked into her nursery to find her in the arms of a demon, named Azazel. The same one that killed your grandpa." Sam and Dean looked at each other in amazement.

Bobby removed his cap and laid it on the table. He then rubbed his hand over his forehead. "See, when Ellen and I were dating she told me I was in a bad car accident. A demon approached her and offered her a deal. If she allowed the demon see her first born, he would bring me back to life. She agreed... but she didn't realise he meant he would take her first born." He gave a heavy sigh and his eyes watered. "You're mother, on the other hand, didn't agree to it," he looked up and watched her walk into the kitchen on them.

She gave a quick smile and nod as he went to stand up for her but his legs went weak and wouldn't allow it. "It's okay," she whispered affectionately rustling her hand through Sam's hair as she passed him. "Azazel offered me the same deal after a hunt went wrong. My father's life for my son's but I said no. It doesn't mean I didn't love my father, though. When I went searching for Azazel, I found Bobby instead," she placed her hand on his shoulder and gave him a soft smile. "And we've been family ever since."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>Half way there. I'm off to swim around in a couple of Easter eggs for the weekend. May post another chapter on Saturday… Happy Easter!


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: **Okay, no more teenagers. It's now ten years later.

Dean aged 26 Sam aged 22

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><p><strong>Part 6<strong>

Dean entered the motel room with their dinner in his hand. 'Big Joes' had big burgers and his stomach had been rumbling for them ever since they pulled into the town.

"Don't bother unpacking, man," Sam hung up his phone. "Bobby just gave us a job in New England."

"Aww dude," Dean whined dropping his head to the side. "I queued up nearly thirty minutes for this. I'm sick of eating cold food with one hand while trying to drive with the other. Can't we eat at the table for once instead of in the car?"

"Okay fine, you don't have to be such a bitch about it," Sam walked over to the table and took the brown bag from him.

"I'm not a bitch," he groaned. "I'm just so hungry I could eat my own leg," he sat down and watched his brother pull out the tasty looking food. "Anyway, aren't we supposed to be alternating? Isn't it supposed to be mom and dad's turn now?"

"Yeah but they're doing the neighbourhood barbeque thing this weekend, remember?" he sat down opposite him. "They have to look normal for the weekend."

"Aww yeah," Dean leaned back and rubbed his stomach. "Mom's making her famous barbeque ribs. Mmm, I wouldn't mind some of those right now," he said before tearing a bite out of his greasy burger. Onions and grease fell out of the other side much to his brother's disgust. "So, what's the case?" he asked through a mouthful of food.

Sam opened his laptop and began reading the email Bobby had just sent them. "Thirteen years ago, newlywed Lilly Whitmore was decapitated in her living room. Investigators suspected her husband until a stranger confessed to her death. He said she was a demon and she had to die. His lawyer went with the insanity plea because he claimed to be a hunter." Sam took a bit from his burger and made a face. "Dude, this is meat! I asked for a veggie burger."

"They didn't have any but I did get you a fruit smoothie," he handed him the bottle by way of apology. "So, a hunter was put down for murder, eh? What else?"

Sam groaned and reluctantly accepted his silent apology. "For the past ten years, the husband… Jonathan Whitmore basically dropped off the face of the earth. No phone calls, no postcards, nothing. That is until three days ago when he showed up at his brother's house with blood on his hands. Cops found a trail of bodies behind him. When asked, he said they were all demons and they all had to die."

Dean took a mouthful of beer before speaking. "So, does he claim to be a hunter too?"

"No," Sam reread the sentence before he spoke. He couldn't believe what he was reading and he wondered if it was true. Now he knew why Bobby gave them this case. "He claims to be an angel of the Lord."

They both looked at each other. There was only one angel they knew of and Dean hadn't seen him in ten years. They were both thinking the same thing. Could it really be him?

* * *

><p>Sam straightened his tie and jacket as Dean pushed the bell of the house. "Hey, you ever wonder if our lives would be any different if mom and dad weren't around?"<p>

Dean frowned in thought. He had never really thought about it. "I don't know," he shrugged. "I doubt it. We'd probably be put under the care of Bobby and Ellen."

"Oh yeah," Sam scrunched up his nose and shuddered at the thought. He did love Bobby and Ellen but hunting was their lives. He didn't see it when he was younger but being in the police force was a good cover for Bobby's hunting escapades. Nobody asked questions when he arrived at a scene first or when he was found standing over a dead body. He loved Bobby but he couldn't see himself being brought up in that life. Not by force any way.

The front door opened and they introduced themselves politely to its owner. "We're here to discuss the reappearance of your brother-in-law." The tired looking woman nodded and invited them to follow her inside.

Jonathan's brother, Ron, met them in the kitchen. He had just been crying. His eyes were still red. "We'll only be a few minutes," Sam promised taking out his notebook. They all sat down and Ron's wife Alice offered them tea or coffee. "Neither thanks," Dean smiled. "Like we said, we'll only be a few minutes."

"I didn't realize the FBI would be interested in something like this?" Ron wiped the bottom of his nose with the back of his hand.

"Well, Mister Whitmore did decapitate seven people," Dean watched him. Ron nodded and held onto his wife's hand for support.

"Did he say anything when he arrived at your front door for the first time in ten years?" Sam asked.

Ron shook his head. "No, I don't think so. He just smiled and we hugged."

"You hit him," his wife added. "Oh yeah," he nodded. "I hit him in the shoulder. Asked him what he was doing for the last ten years that he couldn't pick up the damn phone. Then he came inside… and…" he went silent and Alice squeezed his hand. "I took his jacket from him," Alice finished his sentence. "His whole shirt was red with blood."

"How'd you even know it was blood?" her husband asked, still trying to figure the events out in his head. She shrugged slightly. "I just knew."

Sam and Dean glanced at each other. "Then what happened?"

"I called the cops," she replied. "And we waited here for them to come?"

"So, he knew you had called them?"

Ron nodded. "I think so. We just sat here… whenever we tried to ask him something, he just… looked at us. It's like he wasn't even there… I just… can't believe… how could he even…" he let go of Alice's hand and covered his face with both his hands. "Especially after what happened to Lilly," he couldn't hold it anymore. He left kitchen and ran out the back door.

Alice sighed heavily. Both men were about to excuse themselves from the table when she spoke to them. "I want to show you something." They nodded and followed her up the stairs. She led them into the spare bedroom and locked them inside with her. Dean looked up at his brother with worried eyes when she put the key in her pocket. Sam shrugged back, motioning silently to him to wait a few minutes before attacking the woman.

"I know you're not with the FBI," she began. They were about to dispute her but she held up her hand to interrupt them. "I know a fake badge when I see one," she looked up at them. "I know this because you're the same as me." She moved over to the wardrobe and opened the doors. She put a hand at either end of the rail and lifted it out, clothes and all. She then pushed the back wall in at the top forcing it jump outwards. She forced her small fingers inside and pulled out the fake wall. She settled it on the ground beside her and stepped to the side to allow the brothers see what she was hiding.

"Wow," Dean's jaw dropped. There were case notes and newspaper clippings pinned to the wall. To one side were thick hard backed books and two shot guns were stored on the other. "Either you're a creepy stalker…"

"Or you're a hunter," Sam finished his sentence and looked back to Alice with wide unexpected eyes. "You're a hunter?"

She nodded. "I met Ron while working on Lilly's case. Then John disappeared and a month later my sister died and… I had to take on other responsibilities," she looked away sadly. Sam didn't want to pry. Dean leaned across him and tore down a headline that read 'Hunter kills Demon'. He asked if she thought Lilly was demonic like the file said.

"Absolutely not," Alice shook her head. "And her murderer wasn't a hunter either. He was just a bum with no forwarding address." She looked to the door and narrowed her eyes. She thought she heard a creak on the landing but she immediately dismissed it. "When I interviewed him, he said he was chosen by God to rid the world of evil. That when God put his hands on him, it was like a light bulb was switched on in his soul… and then he was gone," she raised her eyes and a shoulder.

"Yeah, the papers said he got life without parole."

"No," she corrected Sam. "I mean he actually disappeared. One minute he was there and the next… gone through thick concrete walls. Detectives said he escaped but I didn't show them the letter I found." She brushed past Dean and pulled a white envelope off the wall handing it to him. Inside was a single sheet containing a five word sentence; God has chosen me… again.

"So, what about John Whitmore?" Sam took the letter from his brother's hands and read it too. "Do you really believe what he's proclaiming?"

She shrugged and looked away in thought. "I don't know but whoever was in my house five days ago, was not my brother-in-law, he wasn't demonic and he definitely wasn't human."

Dean sighed heavily and pursed his lips. "Unfortunately, we might have an idea who he is."


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: **Thanks to everyone who took the time to review. And you reward is as follows...

* * *

><p><strong>Part 7<strong>

Dean rejected the call that was coming in on his phone again. His father was calling looking for an update. This would usually be the time when they would give him an update. First they'd cover history on the case, interview some people, get a feel of the case then call John. But they might be meeting with an angel today and he didn't want their parents joining the case before they had a chance to speak to him themselves. Sam was trying to make the prison warden believe he was a trainee psychiatrist. He even gave him one of his signature smiles that made people believe he was trustworthy. "Honestly," he laughed. "I was a bit of child genius growing up. If I were any dumber I'd have joined the FBI."

"Hey," Dean slipped his phone in his jacket pocket. "You know, that joke gets old."

"Not to a child genius," Sam smiled. Dean rolled his eyes to the heavens. Even his smile worked on Dean sometimes.

In the end, the prison guard believed their stories and unlocked the security gates that allowed them entry to the holding cell. Jonathan Whitmore was sitting in the cell with his back leaning against the cold white wall. He smiled when he saw them approach the bars. The prison guard pulled out two chairs for them and nodded to the prisoner. "Huh, that's the first facial expression he's made all week. Play nice with the FBI," he warned John then told Dean to yell when they were finished.

"The FBI, oooh," John whispered. "How exciting and yet… untrue."

Dean looked to his brother. This wasn't the angel he remembered. "Do you know who we are?" They didn't sit down. They didn't want to seem to be on the same level as him, to be an equal.

The man nodded.

"I mean really? Do you know who we really are?"

The man nodded again. "Of course I do. You're the Winchester boys," he smiled. "I've waited a long time to meet you two and I must say it is such a pleasure."

Sam looked to his brother swallowing hard. "And you're an angel of the Lord?"

"Well, not exactly," he tilted his head giving a slight smirk. "I only said that to get you here. Actually, to tell you the truth, it's why I killed Lilly and took John's vessel. When I came back, I had to make it seem like an interesting case so I said I was an angel of the Lord."

"So," Sam thought out loud. "You took John's vessel. You're a demon?"

John's face became distorted at the word. "No, that's disgusting. Demons are such a lower being. You may as well call me human."

"So, who the hell are you?" Dean was getting tired of his games.

"I'm a soldier," the man smiled at his introduction. "I am Judas."

Both brothers shrugged. "Is that name supposed to mean something?"

The man dropped his chin to his chest. "You know it's no fun when you have to explain your entrance." He cracked his neck and sighed. "The name is Judas… as in Judas Iscariot!"

Sam gave a short laugh and swallowed hard. "Judas Iscariot! As in… one of the twelve apostles? The same Judas Iscariot that betrayed Jesus."

"The one and only."

"So, you're not an angel of God," Dean growled. "You're a soldier of the Devil."

"Bingo!" Judas pointed his finger at them. "You know if I had to know it would take you this long to figure out my name, I would have waited another decade to come see you but we don't have time to hang around, not in _this_ life anyway." He stood up and slowly began stepping towards the prison bars. "Have you been told of your destiny yet?" he asked when Sam asked him why he wanted to come see them in the first place. Both brothers shook their heads. Judas smiled. "Excellent. That means I'm the first to see your expressions. Well, boys," Judas stopped in the middle of the room and held out his hands. "I'm about to tell you the deal of the millennium. A deal that will change your futures as you know it and all you have to do… is say yes," he smiled.

* * *

><p>Bobby unwrapped the meat from the wrinkled tinfoil. It had been marinating all night and now was ready to be put on the searing hot grill. Ellen came up to him and placing her hand on his shoulder, she kissed him gently on the neck just below his ear lobe. "What was that for?" he squirmed with embarrassment and hoped no one was watching them.<p>

"That's for whatever happens today?" she smiled.

"What does that mean?"

"It means that whenever you're put in front of a grill with beef steaks, you turn into a very angry man," she smirked. She stepped behind him and let her hand follow, moving it over his shoulders.

"I do not," he argued.

"Mm-hmm," she took her hand back and walked over to the other women of the neighbourhood.

He looked back to his steaks and thought about what happened the previous years. "I do not," he mumbled to himself not remembering anything that made him angry.

"You do not, what?" Mary appeared beside him with her own container of meat.

Bobby smiled and asked her what fantastic food she had brought to the annual picnic of torture. Mary threw her head back with a loud laugh. "It's not that bad," she opened her container and placed her barbeque ribs on the outdoor grill.

"Not that bad!" he exclaimed. "You know what your downfall is, Mary? You always see the good in people." He pointed his fork to the group of women Ellen was speaking to and then into his steak. He placed it on the grill near the ribs making sure they didn't touch. "Rebecca, over there, always gets a little too drunk and hits on any guy with a pulse. It's embarrassing."

"She just broke up with her husband," Mary interrupted.

"That's no reason why she has to try to end everyone else's marriage. And Paul," he pointed the fork to another corner of the garden, "leans over the women when he's talking to them. He makes my skin crawl," he shrugged his shoulders.

Mary tilted her head. "I always thought he was gay."

"No, he is definitely not gay," Bobby put the last of the steaks and ribs on the grill and closed over the lid. "He did it twice to Ellen last year and I told him to back off. Now whenever he talks to her, there's an imaginary friend between them."

"Are you sure he's not gay," she narrowed her eyes. "I always thought…"

John appeared beside them slipping his phone in his pocket. "I'm trying to contact the boys," he groaned. "They're not picking up."

Mary sighed telling him he had to let them work more cases on their own. "They're grown men, after all. We can't be there to watch over them all the time," she said still looking over at Paul. He was leaning over Annie Daly, occasionally rubbing his fingers tips up and down her thighs. _Definitely not_ _gay_, she concluded.

John asked Bobby what was the case he had given them. Bobby felt nervous when they both turned to look at him. "Just the normal nonsense," he shrugged. "A guy disappeared after his wife died and then reappeared thirteen years later with a trail of bodies behind him." He left out the part where the guy claimed to be an angel of God. He knew what would happen if he told them. The boys needed to do this on their own without the help of their parents.


	8. Chapter 8

**Part 8**

Dean and Sam blinked. They weren't at the prison anymore. In one millisecond, they were standing in front of an iron barred cell and the next they were in the middle of an open field. They looked around in fear. Nothing was recognizable. Everything was different. Day had turned into night and prison bars had turned into tree trunks. They slowly turned around, feeling a presence behind them. A man stood about ten feet away from them. He had a soft smile on his lips but his eyes were emotionless. "Hello," he nodded. "It's nice to see you again."

Sam looked to Dean and back to the stranger. Whoever the man was, he had put fear in his brother's eyes. The man was shorter than them but had a lot of confidence. He wore an untidy suit and a fawn trench coat. It suddenly dawned on him who the stranger was. "You're Castiel?" he whispered.

The man nodded pleased that Dean had spoken about him. "I'm sorry I took you away from your conversation with Judas," he apologized. "You aren't supposed to hear that… yet."

"You know Judas?" Sam seemed to be the only one who was able to speak. Dean still seemed to be in shock… or awe. Sam didn't know which.

Castiel nodded. "He was about to tell you the deal of the millennium, was he not?" Sam nodded. "You're not ready to hear it, yet. He should know that."

"No?" Dean finally woke out of trance. "Then when will we be ready to hear it? You came to our mother twenty years ago telling her I needed to become a hunter to fulfill my destiny. Judas was just about to tell us what the hell is going on and you just yank us out into some random field in the middle of nowhere."

"You sound angry."

"Yeah, no shit Sherlock," Dean shouted so loud Sam had to put his hand out to his brother's chest to try to calm him down. He had never seen his brother so angry before. Usually when he was annoyed, he'd make a sarcastic joke but this was different. Dean pushed his brother's hand away and growled. Their perfect lives had been altered forever because of this angel. Sam wasn't as vocal about it but he was angry too.

Castiel sighed and looked around the field. He knew he should have taken them somewhere more familiar. He should have brought them back to their motel room but he didn't want to take the chance that Judas would follow them. Taking them to a location on the other side of the world seemed to be a better option. "Earth is made up of a range of different possibilities," he began. "It's what you might call… different dimensions. But no matter which dimension you are in, the ending remains the same. Everyone eventually fulfills their destiny no matter what direction they take." He turned back to Dean. "In another dimension, your childhood is in tatters. Your only friend and family is your brother, Sam. In that dimension, you become a hunter much earlier than this but the outcome is always the same."

"Which is what exactly?" both brothers asked. They glanced at each other. It always annoyed them when they spoke at the same time but this was not the time to be annoyed at each other.

"Your destiny, Dean," Castiel slowly breathed in, glancing to Sam before speaking again. "Is to defeat Lucifer and save the world."

Their jaws dropped and their eyes widened. After a moment, Dean gave a short laugh. "Is that all?" he turned to Sam and smiled, slapping him on the arm. "All I have to do is kill the Devil? And all this time I thought it was something serious." But Sam wasn't laughing. In fact, it looked like he was about to cry. His little brother was hurting and this angel was the one handing out the pain. Dean swallowed back his own tears. "I'm supposed to defeat the Devil and save the world?" he turned back to the angel. "Who do you think I am, Batman?" He didn't wait for Castiel to answer. "Let me ask you this," he put one hand on his hip and pointed his index finger to his lips before speaking. Anger began to boil in him again. "How did the other Deans from the other dimensions fair with this deal?"

Castiel dropped his head and looked away. "Not too well…"

"Not too well," Dean repeated and raised his eye brows. "Why doesn't that surprise me?" He rubbed his hand over his face. This was not the way he had envisioned his second meeting with the angel to be like. He had spent ten years imagining what they would talk about but this wasn't part of the plan. "So, what makes me so special?" he wondered. "How do you know the same thing won't happen to me?"

"Because, the other Deans didn't have anything to live for," he looked from Sam to Dean. "Where as you have everything to lose."

* * *

><p>Sam rubbed his chest as they arrived back in the motel room later that night. The angel had marked them internally to protect them from 'all evil', his words. They already had tattoos warding off demons, so Sam didn't understand what other kind of evil there was out there. His first meeting with the angel didn't go as he had expected. Even though, Dean had told him to expect an ordinary looking man, Sam still imagined him to be different somehow. He imagined him to speak differently too. Maybe have a light glow around him, like he saw in children's books.<p>

Dean walked in after him. "Damn, that was painful," he rubbed the same area of his chest as Sam. He locked the door behind them and threw his jacket on the table. His phone fell out of the pocket and landed on the floor. The screen lit up as a call came through. Both brothers looked at each other then looked to the phone. They knew who was calling them. It was the same person who had been trying to call them for the last hour.

"I can't do it," Dean stepped away like the caller could see him. He sat on his thin mattress and held his head in his hands. "I can't do it," he shook his head.

Sam leaped forward and picked up the phone, pressing the answer button. He held it to his ear and tried to sound happy. His mother's voice made him sigh a little. It was always harder to lie to her than John. "Yeah, we're fine," he lied giving a quick smile. "No, it seems to be a dead end," he shook his head and sat the table. "No ghosts or demons so far… yeah, Dean's in the shower… yeah, everything's fine… yeah, we'll call you in the morning… night," he hung up the phone and rubbed the heels of his hands in his eyes.

"Congratulations, Sammy," Dean stood to walk into the bathroom. He needed a splash of ice cold water. "I think that's the first time you've ever successfully lied to mom."

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><p>Mary hung up the phone and stared at the screen for a few minutes. Ellen brought her over two hot cups of coffee with an Irish twist. They had left the barbeque just as Bobby was starting to argue with the grill. "Well?" she asked sliding the mug in front of her.<p>

"Sam is saying they're fine," she paused. "I think that's the first time he's ever lied to me without breaking." She sipped from her mug and worryingly looked to her friend. Ellen asked her what she wanted to do next and she shrugged. She didn't know what she wanted to do. Was she to treat this situation as a hunter and let them complete the case or be a mother and treat them like her sons? She looked up at her friend and sighed. "I want to learn more about this case."

Ellen nodded and looked out the window to make sure they weren't going to be disturbed for the next thirty minutes. Paul and John were helping Bobby put out the flames that were starting to engulf the grill. She plucked the key from the coat rack and unlocked the basement door. She turned on the lights and invited Mary into her office. The basement was small and, to the untrained eye, normal. Ellen pulled open the doors of a wardrobe to reveal photos and newspaper clippings. She scanned her eyes over the back of it while Mary waited behind her.

"Ah, here we go," she leaned down and tore off the front page of a newspaper. "This was the case he was looking at last time I saw him." She handed it to Mary. "You look at this and I'll check his laptop. He usually emails them information the paper left out." Mary nodded and brought the paper closer to the light.

Ellen flicked open the lid and typed in his password. It was always the same, Joanna Beth, their missing daughter's name. She headed straight for his outlook and checked the last email sent to Sam's address. She scanned her eyes through the words. "Young wife gets killed… yada yada yada… guy goes missing… guy comes back… couple of bodies," she stopped and glanced up at Mary.

"What?" Mary put down her paper noting her friend's fearful eyes. "What is it?"

Ellen gulped. "I don't know if I want to show you this," she closed the lid of the laptop a little.

"Show me what?" Mary pushed her aside and reached to open the lid again. Her eyes scanned down the email until she reached to the same part as her friend. Her legs wobbled and she suddenly dropped in the chair.

"I can't believe Bobby would do this?" Ellen walked around the room sliding her hands through her hair. "I can't believe he wouldn't tell us."

Mary shook her head. "No, it's not him. It's not Castiel." She closed the laptop and looked up in hope. "He wouldn't come back that way."

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>Thanks to everyone for their kind reviews, favourites and alerts. Only two chapters left!


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: **Apologies for the delay. Thanks for all your kind reviews.

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><p><strong>Part 9<strong>

"I'll be their guardian angel," she remembered him saying. "I'll watch out for them. I'll never let them come to harm." That was the promise Castiel made to Mary when they first met. She was hunting for Azazel and was hot on his trail. But Azazel figured he was being followed and sent three demons out to protect him. She was able to exorcise the first two demons but the third one came out of nowhere. She could feel her existence draining away and for a moment, she thought her life was over but then He came. He put his hand over the demon's face until a white light shone through. When he turned back to her, she could feel her eyes swell and her lips burn. He placed two fingers on her forehead and all the pain disappeared.

"You cannot die tonight," he told her reaching out his hand to help her up.

"And who are you to say otherwise?" she was grateful for his help but wondered what kind of demon would help a demon hunter.

He smiled gently. "I am not who you think I am. I am not like the others. I am not like the things you fight." He told her who he really was. "Do not be afraid," he added.

Mary nodded like meeting angels was an every day event. "I'm not afraid," she told him raising her shoulder. "I'm just highly sceptical since angels don't exist. They're just make believe and only appear in fairy tales."

Castiel nodded and smirked a little. "You believe in vampires and demons, so why not angels?" He thought carefully before speaking again. He had to tread carefully. He had to warn her of a future that was unwritten without scaring her too much. This world was similar to the others. Sixty six seals were still needed to be broken before Lucifer could rise again. Yesterday Judas broke the first seal and now it was only a matter of time. "In the future, your sons will be given a choice and they must choose wisely. I understand that you have decided not to bring them up as hunters."

She agreed stating that she and her husband had agreed to exclude their children from the dangerous world.

Castiel nodded. "Unfortunately, this world will not be safe unless they are trained to protect it." He looked over to her confused face and realised he would have to be less cryptic. "God has chosen a very specific future for your children which must be achieved. The day will come when Dean must choose between saving his brother and saving millions of people."

Mary was shocked. "Dean would do anything for his brother." Even at a young age, she noticed how Dean helped her feed and dress him. He was the perfect big brother. "Can't he do both?" But Castiel shook his head. "Unfortunately, Sam will grow up walking a very narrow path. If he isn't careful, he will falter and may choose to side with evil," he sighed. At the moment, Judas was planning to visit Sam just after his twentieth birthday with the offer to be the one to set Lucifer free. Without Dean by his side, Castiel feared the worst.

"No," Mary shouted in disbelief interrupting his thoughts. "I'm bringing up my sons with kindness and faith. Sam would never side with evil. Neither of them would. What if I don't teach them to be hunters?" Mary could only imagine what John would do to her.

"Then the blood of the world will be on your hands."

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><p>Ellen clapped her hands in front of Mary again. She went into a trance when she was asked what she was going to do now. "Are you okay?" she asked worryingly.<p>

Mary nodded.

"So, what are you going to do? Are you going to tell John?"

"No, way," Mary shook her head and slapped the laptop closed. "He'd kill me."

Ellen sighed. "He's not going to kill you."

"Why not? I would," her eyes watered thinking about what Castiel said. "If I tell him, he's going to try to find the boys and take them back. Then he's going to come home and kill me where I sit." She shook her head. "I shouldn't have done this. This is my fault we're in this mess. I should have kept my promise with John. I shouldn't have gone back to the job. I shouldn't have trained them. I shouldn't have…"

Ellen sat down and rested her hand across her friend's shoulders. She watched her let her tears fall and groaned. "Isn't it better to send them into the real world with a loaded shotgun for protection than sending them into a world where all they think they need is a working condom."

Mary wiped her tears with the back of her hand and laughed. "How do you know what to say to make me smile?" she whispered.

Ellen slid her hand from Mary's shoulders down her arm and tightly gripped her hand. "Because I'm your friend and I love you," she spoke softly. "Now, this is what's going to happen," she said after a few moments. She straightened up and slid the laptop to the side. "You're going to find John and tell him everything and I mean everything about this case. You're going to tell him everything that angel said to you that night twenty years ago because I know from your blank expression a few minutes ago, you're hiding something big. And while you're doing that, I'm to go find Bobby and stab him with a meat skewer for not telling us about all of this."

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><p>Castiel stood on the other side of the car park. He watched Sam sit at the motel window, throw his cell phone down on the table then hold his head in his hands.<p>

"You should not have told them," a dark voice appeared beside him.

"They can handle it," Castiel didn't flinch with the sudden arrival of his superior, Uriel.

"They are too young to know their destiny," his voice rumbled slowly through their empty surroundings. "There is a reason why we waited so long before." They both watched Sam stand up and quickly close over the thin curtains, leaving a small crack of light in the middle.

"I cannot lie to them."

"You cannot lie to them?" Uriel repeated and huffed a dry laugh. "You already have."

Castiel groaned. He knew telling them a story of other worldly dimensions was a little farfetched but it was the only thing he could come up with on this occasion. "Events are happening a lot quicker in this world. As of today, Judas has only four seals left to break. I had to warn them before it happened all over again."

"You cannot keep turning back time, Castiel. Eventually, you have to stop and let the inevitable happen."

"No," he shook his head. "I have to get it right. He made me promise I had to make it right."

"Fine," Uriel reluctantly nodded just before fluttering away. "But this is your last chance. I am tired of dying for you."


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: **Last chapter, so it's a little longer to fit everything in. Thanks for all your reviews and favorites. Imagine my surprise when I saw I've received nearly 1500 hits! I am eternally grateful.

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><p><strong>Part 10<strong>

Sam rubbed his fingers over his eyes. The sun was trying to shine through the light curtains to inform them morning had arrived. He looked over at his brother and frowned. He had heard Dean quietly sob last night when he thought Sam was sleeping. His big brother was just told that his future was laced with evil and it seemed as though nothing could be done to change it. In a way, Sam was glad. He always thought his big brother was invincible, like a super hero but he was just like everyone else. When he was happy, he laughed and when he was terrified, he cried.

Neither of them got much sleep that night. They were too busy researching angels and the Devil. They found names of archangels like Marcus and Gabriel. They even learned that Lucifer was also once an archangel but was banished to hell after defying God. They found passages that told them of Lucifer's rising to earth and the bringing of the Apocalypse. But nowhere in the mess, did they find a way of beating Lucifer.

Dean closed his book and leaned back in his creaky chair. He never thought he would ever be reading the New Testament and taking every word as fact. "There's one thing that's been nagging me ever since we got back," he groaned not taking his eyes away from the book's front cover. It was a copy he got from the library. The cover was brand new and the inside had only one stamp on it. Dean could feel his eyes were heavy and raw. He was so tired. "Something that Judas said in the cell. He said 'we don't have time to hang around, not in _this_ life anyway'," he looked back to his brother. Sam shrugged. "You heard what Castiel said, the world is full of different dimensions."

"Yeah but how would Judas know that?" Dean stood and stretched his back. He felt like he had been sitting in the one position for half the night. "And the way he said _time_… I don't know, dude. Something feels off here."

Sam threw his arm over the back of his chair to face him fully. "What are you saying? That Castiel is lying to us about other dimensions?"

Dean reached into their cool box and realised they were out of beer. "I don't know," he shrugged. "I've just got this funny feeling that we've been here before." He looked over at his confused brother. "Doesn't this feel familiar to you?"

"No," Sam sounded concerned. "Are you alright, Dean?"

"No, no I'm not," he rested his hands on his hips and released a heavy sigh. "I think we need to ask Castiel a few more questions."

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><p>Castiel arrived just as Dean finished the last line of his prayer. He had heard their whole conversation and so didn't have to travel far. He was expecting these questions at some point but he wasn't expecting them to come so quickly. It took longer the other times.<p>

"Time? What the hell are you talking about?" Dean didn't understand what was being said but Sam did.

"You've been turning time back to get it right, haven't you?" Castiel dropped his head in shame. It wasn't something he was proud of. Sam groaned when he didn't get a response. "How many times?" he wanted to know.

"A couple," Castiel shrugged and walked over to the other side of the room.

Sam's eyes narrowed and he tilted his head. "A couple… as in three or four… or was it more?"

Castiel didn't reply.

Dean shook his head. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You can't… do that Castiel. You're not God!" he bellowed. "You can't keep hitting the rewind button just because you don't like the ending. Sometimes you just… you just have to let the inevitable happen whether you like it or not."

Castiel nodded. "So I've been told." _Many, many times before_, he thought.

"Well then maybe you should start listening," Sam stepped back and sighed heavily. He wondered how many times Castiel had seen the same thing over and over again and how he could possibly think it was a good idea to rewrite history. It wasn't just their lives he was changing, he was also changing the lives of every person they were ever in contact with.

Dean held out his hand, still trying to understand everything. "So, if you can turn back time, surely you can make this all go away again. I mean, you can make this all right," he wished. "You can send us back to the way it was before demons came into our lives and before this destiny crap was put in our heads."

Castiel shook his head. "Even if I wanted to… too much has changed. Anyway, I can't exactly remember what the original was like," he mumbled to a low whisper. He had changed history over a hundred times. After the first few times, he had a chance to revert it all back to the way it was but the more things he changed the harder it became to revert back. He told them that something they kept doing made the future repeat itself every time, but that wasn't true. He knew the real reason. It was love. Sam thought it earlier as the table just before Dean said what he was thinking. Family was so important to them that no matter what time line they were in, they always repeated the same mistakes to save each other.

He also left out the fact that every time one of them always chooses to say yes to Lucifer. Every time, their parents die at the hands of Azazel. Every time Bobby, Ellen, Jo and eventually Sam die. He even had to relive his own death over and over again. He tried numerous scenarios; John dying instead of Mary in the nursery, the brothers living their lives without becoming hunters and even a world without Azazel. But there were always replacements. Ruby was replaced by Judas, John was replaced by Bobby and so on. It was exhausting.

Dean wet his lips and drew in a long breath. "You said before," he said in a low angry tone, "in another dimension… another time, my childhood was in tatters… which life was that?"

Castiel looked over to Sam. They were both staring at him now. "It was the first one," the angel revealed. "In your original life, you and Sam grew up without a mother. John had to teach you how to become hunters while living on the road."

"Mom's dead?" Sam whispered and looked to Dean. His brother nodded. He knew exactly what his little brother was thinking. They couldn't go to a life without their mother.

"Yeah, we're not going back to that life," Dean said. "Pick another time."

"Dean," Castiel tilted his head. "I can't just pick a time and put you in it. It doesn't work like that. If I change this time, you'll forget everything and we'll be back to where we started. Anyway," he added. "I can't change time again. This… is my last chance." He was sure that if he told Dean about his destiny earlier that the future would change for the better but it still looked the same. No matter what he did, nothing changed.

"Well, that's just perfect," Dean threw his hands in the air. "You say we've screwed up this life and now you can't do anything about it! Isn't that just peachy?"

Sam flopped in the nearest chair. This was all too much for him and his legs felt like they had turned to jelly. He rubbed his hands over his face and groaned. "So, what was it?" he mumbled. "What made you go back in time in the first place?" he looked up. Dean narrowed his eyes at him and wondered the same thing. "And don't say you just woke up one day and wondered what it would be like, if. We've all thought of the 'what ifs' but we've never acted on them. So, what made you do… this? I'm guessing it was something big otherwise, why bother?"

Dean nodded in agreement and turned to Castiel but the angel avoided their stares. Instead his eyes gazed out the window. "I really thought this time would be different. You even have the right car!" Their black Impala was parked outside the window staring back at him. It had a different story, though. John and Bobby found the disused car in a junk yard and Dean helped them restore it. When Dean turned eighteen, John gave him the keys.

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><p>Sam threw himself into the passenger seat and rubbed his hands together. The sun had already set allowing the sky to turn purple. The icy air told him winter was on its way. He blew hot air into his hands and rubbed them together hoping to take some of the numbness out of his fingers.<p>

"Why didn't you answer your phone, man? I've been looking for you everywhere."

"Well you obviously didn't look hard enough," Dean mumbled handing him half a bottle of whiskey. He had been sitting in the Impala for the last four hours planning to drive somewhere but he left the keys in the room and didn't feel like going back in for them. So instead, he sat in a cold car and drank whiskey to keep himself warm.

"I had to check the bars first," Sam squirmed as the brown liquid slid down his throat. He handed the bottle back to his brother. "So, what have you been doing out here?"

"Thinking," he replied screwing the lid back on the bottle and crossed his hands over his chest. He could sense his little brother looking at him and he closed his eyes to shut out the stares. "I'm thinking maybe we should cut our losses and quit before we get ourselves killed."

The car was silent for a few moments. "You want to give up?" Sam whispered sadly.

Dean shrugged. He had been thinking about it ever since Castiel told them the truth about his destiny. If an angel couldn't get the ending right, how could they?

"Screw you!"

Dean opened one eye and looked over to the passenger seat. Sam had sworn at him before but that was playfully. This was the first time that he could actually hear anger behind it. "What did you say to me?"

Sam turned and glared straight into Dean's eyes. "I said, screw you!" He turned away and shook his head. He brought his jaw forward as the anger began to boil under his skin. "I gave up everything for this. I gave up my childhood, my life… I could have gone off and been… a… a solicitor or something but instead I stayed with you because I knew you couldn't do this alone."

"Thanks, Sammy," Dean groaned and rolled his shoulders back. "But I didn't need your pity."

"I didn't mean…" Sam rested his elbow on the car window and rubbed his hand over his face. A heavy sigh made his nostrils flare out. "You're my family. If you were to walk across flaming crap, I'd follow you because you're my brother and that's what brothers do. They look out for each other. They cover each other's back through crap like this," his voice rose with every word. "I don't care what he says, we make our own destiny. No matter how many times Castiel comes down here, if he says I have to defeat the Devil to save your ass then I'm going to fight the Devil even if I have to die trying because you're my brother and I love you."

"Aw dude," Dean squirmed under the heavy word. "You're not getting all chick flick on me, are you?"

"And if I have to hug you to change your mind, I'll do that too," he tried not to smile as he watched his brother's face scrunch up.

"Fine," Dean caved in, not wanting an emotional hug from his little brother. "So, what do you propose we do? 'Cause I have this sneaky feeling that we can't just walk up to the Devil and pop him one in the head."

"We treat this like any other case," Sam said relieved to have his brother back. "We'll hunt this thing, find his weakness and fight him like we would fight any other demon. And then when we win, we'll celebrate like we do with every other win." He watched as Dean nodded and smiled at the thought. They always celebrated surrounded by food and family. It was one of the perks of the job. Dean knew their chances of survival were tiny and although he hated to admit it, he liked his brother's optimism. He took one last swig from the bottle and opened the car door. He looked to his brother and rolled his eyes. "You're such a bitch."

Sam gave a quick laugh and before he got of the car he whispered back loud enough to hear. "Jerk!"

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><p>Sam stepped out of the motel room to call their parents. They decided it was finally time to tell them what was happening and what truths they were hiding.<p>

"You can call me Cas, if you want," Castiel smiled to Dean. He longed for some familiarity in this mess. He hadn't heard his friend call him Cas in such a long time but now looking at Dean's confused face, he wondered if he was too forceful with his request.

"Okay," Dean skeptically replied. "But you can't go around picking your own nickname, you know? It doesn't work like that."

Castiel nodded and raised the corner of his mouth a little with the familiar reply. "So I've been told."

Dean shook his head and huffed a laugh. "Dude, how'd you even think this was a good idea?" he asked referring to him jumping into the past again and again.

"It wasn't by choice," Cas didn't want to reveal too much. "Something… happens… in the future. I was ordered to go back and change things until they were done right."

"By who? God? Remind me to kick his ass next time I see him. I mean," Dean stood up and poured himself another glass of whiskey. He noticed that drinking was quickly becoming a habit. "How'd he even think changing history could be done so easily and without any consequences? Isn't better that he let fate take over? I mean things are supposed to happen for a reason, aren't they?"

But then Cas uttered something that shook Dean to his core. Three little words that made him question who he was and who he could become.

"It wasn't God who ordered me to go back in time," he replied. "It was you."

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>Dun, dun, dun! Thanks again for reading …


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